Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,699 of the 2,023 people (84%) sentenced for drug trafficking in the District of Nebraska in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 92 months, compared with 60 months for drug trafficking in all 94 districts. Drug trafficking made up 41% of
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025 › Drug Trafficking: District of Nebraska
In brief: A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 1,699 of the 2,023 people (84%) sentenced for drug trafficking in the District of Nebraska in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 92 months, compared with 60 months for drug trafficking in all 94 districts. Drug trafficking made up 41% of the 4,887 people sentenced in the district.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,023 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Mandatory Minimums in Most Cases
A mandatory minimum is a prison term set by statute that a judge must impose unless an exception applies. In this district, it applied to 1,699 of 2,023 drug trafficking cases (84%).
The Commission's records show which cases carried a mandatory minimum. They do not show the drug, the amount, or the statute behind each one.
Prison Terms Compared With All Districts
Of the 2,023 people, 1,991 (98%) received a prison term, and 29 (1%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 92 months, or 7.7 years. A quarter received 135 months or more, and a quarter received 60 months or less.
In all 94 districts, 96% of drug trafficking sentences included prison, and the median was 60 months. The median in Nebraska was higher. For all offense types in the district, the median was 57 months.
Guilty Pleas and Trials
A total of 1,977 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 46 were convicted after a trial. The rate for all districts was 98%, which is the same as the Nebraska rate.
The median prison term was 90 months after a guilty plea and 180.5 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on the 46 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among guilty pleas, 82% had a written plea agreement and 18% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
The guideline range is the range calculated under the federal sentencing guidelines. Of the 2,023 people, 1,016 (50%) were sentenced within it. Another 604 (30%) were below the range without a government request, and 360 (18%) were below it at the government's request. A total of 43 (2%) were above the range.
For drug trafficking in all districts, 32% of sentences were within the range. For all offense types in Nebraska, 48% were within the range.
Which Guidelines Applied
"Drug Trafficking" is the Commission's offense category, assigned from the primary sentencing guideline. Here, §2D1.1 (Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses)) was the primary guideline in 2,015 cases.
Small numbers used §2D1.2 (Drug Offenses Occurring Near Protected Locations or Involving Underage or Pregnant Individuals) with 4, §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact) with 3, and §2D1.8 (Renting or Managing a Drug Establishment) with 1.
Fiscal Year Counts and Medians
The district sentenced 864 people in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 1,159 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025. The median was 70 months in fiscal years 2016 and 2017, and 120 months in fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Fiscal years run from October 1 to the following September. The records show these changes over the same period, but they cannot show why the medians changed.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 241 | 70 months | 98% |
| 2017 | 258 | 70 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 174 | 80 months | 95% |
| 2019 | 191 | 100 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 163 | 78 months | more than 99% |
| 2021 | 144 | 108 months | 98% |
| 2022 | 197 | 96 months | 98% |
| 2023 | 267 | 120 months | 97% |
| 2024 | 200 | 120 months | 99% |
| 2025 | 188 | 120 months | 96% |
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 1,990 people (98%), and the median term was 60 months. One person (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 13 (less than 1%), and restitution for 9 (less than 1%).
In criminal history, 32% were in the lowest category (category I) and 17% were in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records do not have a criminal history field.
The Installation in This District and What the Data Omits
Offutt AFB, Nebraska, is in this district and appears in this site's court-martial data. Courts-martial are tried in military courts, not in this federal district court, and these numbers are federal numbers only.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Nebraska (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Nebraska") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Drug Trafficking" (2,023). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the District of Nebraska, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.